Electric devices have been commonplace for many years. They are used in nearly every facet of modern lives. Electric devices may be used alone or in combination with other devices. In some cases, large groups of electric devices may be used in conjunction to produce a desired result. For example, multiple lights may be used to light a building, multiple electric doors may be used to regulate entry into a building, or multiple air conditioners may be used to control air temperature in a building.
In some cases, electric devices may be designed for manual initiation, or in other cases, may be designed for automatic or electronic initiation. For example, dishwashers are typically designed for manual initiation by the user, while refrigerators are typically designed for automatic initiation upon receiving a request from an internal thermostat. In the case of the refrigerator, the internal thermostat indicates to the refrigerator that it is to begin operation when the thermostat has reached a certain temperature (i.e. when the internal air temperature inside the refrigerator is too warm).
Typically, when electric devices receive a command to initiate operation, the command is heeded immediately, without question. When larger electric devices turn on, an electricity demand spike is created. In cases where multiple large electric devices are turned on, the demand spikes cumulate and can become quite severe.